Geri Halliwell upset by furor over Margaret Thatcher tribute

Geri Halliwell has branded herself "weak" and cowardly for deleting an online tribute to former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after receiving negative feedback from fans.

The former Spice Girls star was among the first to express her views on Twitter.com following the death of the veteran politician on Monday (08Apr13), writing, "Thinking of our 1st Lady of girl power, Margaret Thatcher, a green grocer's (sic) daughter who taught me anything is possible."

However, Geri Halliwell later deleted the tweet and replaced it with the message, "I'm sorry if I offended u (sic)."

She has now admitted she received a barrage of abuse over her Thatcher tribute, and was later branded "spineless" for backtracking.

In a message posted on her blog, Geri Halliwell admits she doesn't know a lot about Margaret Thatcher's divisive policies, which prompted both praise and vitriol following her death, and insists she deleted the tweet because she was "afraid of upsetting people, and not being liked".

She writes, "I felt compelled to tweet my thoughts for a female leader, in a world governed by men. I was so confused and overwhelmed by some of the feedback I received that I took my tweet down and for that I was called spineless... What I hated the most was that I took a tweet down. I had wavered and was full of self-doubt...

"I was so afraid of upsetting people, and not being liked for saying something that was not to everyone's taste. Also, I suddenly thought given the adverse reaction, did I even really know enough about Margaret Thatcher? Was I just trying to be relevant? She had obviously upset a lot of people."

Geri Halliwell ends by reiterating her admiration for the U.K.'s first female leader, adding, "I do admire a woman, whether she is right or wrong, regardless of her opinions. She had the courage to stand by her convictions. Not like me. I look at my behavior (sic), which exposed how weak I was under fire, not like Margaret Thatcher. Rest in peace."